1956 GF- media reports of the day (and current AFL records) have the crowd for this match as 32,450- later editions of the Football Record (12-9-1957 / 26-9-1960 / 2-9-1965 / 25-9-1967 / 4-9-1968 / 28-9-1970) confirm it was actually 33,120

1958 GF - media reports of the day (and current AFL records) have the crowd for this match as 26,400- the opening Football Record of the 1959 Night Series (3-9-1959) has the same crowd figure- however, subsequent editions of the Football Record (26-9-1960 / 2-9-1965 / 25-9-1967 / 4-9-1968 / 28-9-1970) confirm it was actually 27,800

1959 GF - media reports of the day (and current AFL records) have the crowd for this match as 9,200- later editions of the Football Record (1-9-1960 / 26-9-1960 / 2-9-1965 / 25-9-1967 / 4-9-1968 / 28-9-1970) confirm it was actually 9,300

1961 GF- current AFL records have the crowd for this match as 30,465- The Age (26-9-1961) and The Football Record (31-8-1962 / 2-9-1965 / 25-9-1967 / 4-9-1968 / 28-9-1970) confirm it was actually 30,3651963 GF- newspaper match reports the day after the game have a crowd of 25,270- the 1963 VFL Grand Final Football Record a few days later (5-10-1963) has the exact crowd figure of 25,276- other editions of the Football Record in subsequent years (as well as modern AFL records) have the original rounded-off total of 25,270

GRAND FINAL NOTES:During the 1956-71 era, in all but two seasons the Night Series Grand Final was held after the VFL Grand Final (usually in the week following the premiership decider). The sole exceptions were the 1962 and 1963 seasons when the night final was played during VFL Grand Final week.

NIGHT SERIES/PRE-SEASON PREMIERSHIP CAPTAINS/COACHES

YEAR

TEAM

COACH

CAPTAIN

1956

South
Melbourne

Herbie Matthews

Ian
Gillett

1957

South
Melbourne

Herbie Matthews

Ron Clegg

1958

St
Kilda

Alan Killigrew

Neil
Roberts (VC)

Brian
Gleeson (C) DNP due to injury

1959

FitzroyLions

Len Smith

Alan Gale

1960

South
Melbourne

Bill Faul

Bob Skilton (VC)

Ron
Clegg (C) DNP due to injury

1961

Geelong

Bob Davis

John Yeates

1962

Richmond

Des Rowe

Ron Branton

1963

Footscray Bulldogs

Ted
Whitten

Ted
Whitten

1964

Footscray Bulldogs

Ted
Whitten

Ted
Whitten

1965

North
Melbourne

Alan Killigrew

Noel
Teasdale

1966

North
Melbourne

Alan Killigrew

Noel
Teasdale

1967

Footscray Bulldogs

Charlie
Sutton

Ted
Whitten

1968

Hawthorn

John
Kennedy

Graham
Arthur

1969

Hawthorn

John
Kennedy

David Parkin

1970

Footscray Bulldogs

Ted
Whitten

Stuart
Magee*

1971

Melbourne

Bernie
Massey*

Frank
Davis

1976

Hawthorn

David Parkin*

Don Scott

NFL
Wills Cup

1977

Hawthorn

David Parkin

Don Scott

1978

Fitzroy Lions

Graham
Campbell

Garry
Wilson (VC)

Harvey
Merrigan (C) DNP due to injury

1979

Collingwood

Tom Hafey

Ray Shaw

1980

North
Melbourne

Ron Barassi

Wayne Schimmelbusch

1981

Essendon

Kevin Sheedy

Simon
Madden

1982

Swans
(SM/Sydney)

Ricky Quade

Barry
Round

1983

Carlton

David Parkin

Wayne
Johnston (DVC)*

Fitzpatrick
(C) and Southby (VC) DNP due to injury

1984

Essendon

Kevin Sheedy

Terry Daniher

1985

Hawthorn

Allan
Jeans

Michael
Tuck (VC)*

Leigh
Matthews (C) DNP due to suspension

1986

Hawthorn

Allan
Jeans

Michael
Tuck

1987

Melbourne

John Northey

Danny
Hughes (VC)

Robert
Flower (C) DNP due to injury

1988

Hawthorn

Alan Joyce

Michael
Tuck

1989

Melbourne

John Northey

Greg Healy

1990

Essendon

Kevin Sheedy

Tim Watson

1991

Hawthorn

Alan Joyce

Gary Ayres
(VC)

Michael
Tuck (C) DNP due to injury

1992

Hawthorn

Alan Joyce

Gary Ayres

1993

Essendon

Kevin Sheedy

Mark
Thompson

1994

Essendon

Kevin Sheedy

Paul
Salmon (VC)

Mark
Thompson (C) DNP due to injury

1995

North
Melbourne

Denis
Pagan

Wayne
Carey

1996

St
Kilda

Stan Alves

Nathan
Burke

1997

Carlton

Wayne Brittain*

Craig
Bradley

1998

North
Melbourne

Denis
Pagan

Wayne
Carey

1999

Hawthorn

Ken Judge

Shane
Crawford

2000

Essendon

Kevin Sheedy

James Hird

2001

Port
Adelaide

Mark
Williams

Matthew
Primus

2002

Port
Adelaide

Mark
Williams

Matthew Primus

2003

AdelaideCrows

Gary Ayres

Mark Ricciuto

2004

St
Kilda

Grant
Thomas

Lenny
Hayes

2005

Carlton

Denis
Pagan

Anthony Koutoufides

2006

Geelong

Mark
Thompson

Matthew
Scarlett (VC)*

Steven
King (C) DNP due to injury

2007

Carlton

Denis
Pagan

Lance Whitnall

2008

St
Kilda

Ross Lyon

Justin Koschitzke*

2009

Geelong

Mark
Thompson

Cameron
Ling (VC)

Tom
Harley (C) DNP due to injury

2010

Western Bulldogs

Rodney Eade

Daniel Giansiracusa (VC)

Brad
Johnson (C) DNP due to injury

2011

Collingwood

Mick Malthouse

Scott Pendlebury (VC)

Nick
Maxwell (C) DNP due to injury

2012

AdelaideCrows

Brenton Sanderson

Nathan van
Berlo

2013

Brisbane Lions

Michael
Voss

Jonathan
Brown

*CAPTAINCY NOTES:

1970 - Ted Whitten senior started the season as Footscray captain-coach but retired as a player after breaking the VFL games record in Round 5 - he remained as coach for the rest of the season and Stuart Magee (VC) took over the captaincy.

1971 - Melbourne coach Ian Ridley missed the Grand Final due to a work-related holiday in Fiji; senior assistant Bernie Massey took over coaching duties for the final.

1976 NFL Wills Cup - Hawthorn's senior coach John Kennedy allowed David Parkin, his senior assistant to coach the team throughout the NFL Night Series as an apprenticeship. Parkin later took over as the Hawks' head coach following the 1976 season.

1983 - with Mike Fitzpatrick (C) and Geoff Southby (VC) both unavailable due to injury, veteran forward Wayne Johnston was notified ten minutes before the opening bounce that he would be captaining the Blues in the Grand Final.

1985 - Hawthorn captain Leigh Matthews had been de-registered by the VFL Commision following his king hit on Geelong's Neville Bruns a fortnight earlier. Michael Tuck (VC) led the Hawks during Matthews' month-long suspension.

1997 - Carlton senior coach David Parkin allowed his assistant, Wayne Brittain to coach the team during the pre-season competition. Parkin resumed as senior coach for the premiership season.

2006 - Geelong appointed three joint vice-captains for the 2006 season: Tom Harley, Cameron Ling and Matthew Scarlett. With captain Steven King unavailable due to injury, Scarlett was nominated to lead the Cats in the 2006 night final.

2008 - Lenny Hayes, Nick Riewoldt and Luke Ball had served as joint-St Kilda captains for the 2007 season but coach Ross Lyon chose to trial a number of different captains throughout the 2008 pre-season. Justin Koschitzke was the Saints nominated leader for the week of the pre-season Grand Final and duly raised the trophy when they won the flag. Nick Riewoldt, who also played in the final, was appointed captain five days later.

PREMIERSHIP DOUBLE

NEARLY A DOUBLE

The Night Series/Pre-Season premiers have gone on to win the VFL-AFL Grand Final in the same season on seven occasions (Hawthorn also achieved an unofficial "double" in 1976 when they won the NFL Wills Cup played in Adelaide and the VFL Grand Final):

On eight occasions teams completed half of the premiership double, but lost in the other Grand Final that season:

YEAR

TEAM

NS/PRE-SEASON

VFL/AFL

1976

Hawthorn

def. NM by 48

def. NM by 30

1984

Essendon

def. Sydney by 51

def. Hawthorn by 24

1986

Hawthorn

def. Carlton by 30

def. Carlton by 42

1988

Hawthorn

def. Geelong by 3

def. Melbourne by 96

1991

Hawthorn

def. NM by 49

def. West Coast by 53

1993

Essendon

def. Richmond by 23

def. Carlton by 44

2000

Essendon

def. NM by 41

def. Melbourne by 60

2009

Geelong

def. Collingwood by 76

def. St Kilda by 12

YEAR

TEAM

NS/PRE-SEASON

VFL/AFL

1979

Collingwood

def. Hawthorn by 28

lost to
Carlton by 5

1981

Carlton

lost to Essendon by 24

def. Collingwood by 20

1985

Essendon

lost to
Hawthorn by 9

def. Hawthorn by 78

Hawthorn

def. Essendon by 9

lost to Essendon by 78

1990

Essendon

def. NM by 36

lost to Coll'wood by 48

1998

North Melb.

def. St Kilda by 14

lost to
Adelaide by 35

2001

Brisbane
Lions

lost to Port
Adel. by 85

def. Essendon by 26

2011

Collingwood

def. Essendon by 22

lost to
Geelong by 38

BACK-TO-BACK FLAGS

On eight occasions clubs have won successive premierships in the Night Series/Pre-Season competition:

TEAM

YEARS

South
Melbourne

1956-57

Footscray Bulldogs

1963-64

North
Melbourne

1965-66

Hawthorn

1968-69

Hawthorn

1985-86

Hawthorn

1991-92

Essendon

1993-94

Port Adelaide

2001-02

DOUBLE TROUBLE

On six occasions clubs have reached the Grand Finals of both competitions but come away empty-handed:

YEAR

TEAM

NS/PRE-SEASON

VFL/AFL

1978

North Melb.

lost to Fitzroy by 76

lost to Hawthorn by 18

1980

Collingwood

lost to NM by 3

lost to Richmond by 81

1986

Carlton

lost to Hawthorn by 30

lost to Hawthorn by 42

1989

Geelong

lost to Melbourne by 9

lost to Hawthorn by 6

2003

Collingwood

lost to Adelaide by 31

lost to Brisbane by 50

2005

West
Coast

lost to Carlton by 27

lost to Sydney by 4

MICHAEL TUCK MEDALLISTS (Grand Final Best On Ground)

Named in honour of Hawthorn legend Michael Tuck who retired after the 1991 season having played in a record 7 premiership teams and a (then) record 426 VFL-AFL premiership matches.

YEAR

WINNER

CLUB

1992

Paul Hudson

Hawthorn

1993

Gavin Wanganeen

Essendon

1994

Garry O'Donnell

Essendon

1995

Mick Martyn

North Melbourne

1996

Nicky Winmar

St Kilda

1997

Craig Bradley

Carlton

1998

Wayne Carey

North Melbourne

1999

Paul Salmon

Hawthorn

2000

Mark Mercuri

Essendon

2001

Adam Kingsley

Port Adelaide

2002

Nick Stevens

Port Adelaide

2003

Andrew McLeod

Adelaide

2004

Robert Harvey

St Kilda

2005

Brendan Fevola

Carlton

2006

Simon Goodwin*

Adelaide

2007

Nick Stevens

Carlton

2008

Jason Gram

St Kilda

2009

Joel Selwood

Geelong

2010

Barry Hall

Western Bulldogs

2011

Heath Shaw

Collingwood

2012

Bernie Vince

Adelaide

2013

Daniel Rich

Brisbane Lions

*Indicates medal awarded to a player from the losing team

Version 1 (1992-99)

Version 2 (2000-02)

Version 3 (2003-13)

NOTE - Hawthorn's Robert Dipierdomenico was officially named Best On Ground in the 1985 Night Series final - eight seasons before the Michael Tuck Medal was first awarded - and was presented with a portable cassette player at the post-match ceremony. [The Age 24-7-1985]

WOODEN-SPOONERS & NIGHT SERIES/PRE-SEASON PREMIERS

Two teams have finished last in the VFL Premiership and also won the Night Series/Pre-Season Cup in the same season:

Footscray (1967) - finished last in the premiership season then won the consolation Night Series

Carlton (2005) - won the Pre-Season Cup then finished last in the premiership season